With so many different online form builders available these days, it can be hard to know which one to choose. Can a free form builder give you everything you need? Or are you better off investing in a paid plan?
Either way, since online forms are such an important part of your website – and your website is such an important part of your business – you want to be sure to choose the right one.
You want to be able to easily figure out how to get your forms to do everything you need them to do. And you certainly don’t want to discover your database is too limited when it’s too late to do anything about it, or that your form isn’t attractive enough to get people to fill it out in the first place.
What might be the best online form builder for someone else isn’t necessarily the best one for you. That’s why we’ve tested and compared all the top form builders and put together this comprehensive list. Read on to find out which one is best for your needs.
Before you read more – did you know you can hire someone on Fiverr to build a personalized online form for only $5? It’s a simple, inexpensive solution that lets you continue to focus on bringing traffic to your website!
If you choose to use a free form builder, you’re going to want one that doesn’t limit you too much. Most of the free form builders on this list do have paid versions, but in this article, we’ll be focusing on the features you get for free.
With JotForm, not only do you get the tools to create great-looking forms, but you can also accept payments from 30+ different payment gateways (just keep in mind that you can only receive ten payments per month with the free plan 1 ). JotForm integrates with Dropbox and Google Docs, plus lots of other widgets that let you add extra features.
Free Plan Restrictions | 5 forms 100 submissions/month 100MB storage |
What You Get When You Upgrade | Remove JotForm branding, plus get more submissions and HIPAA compliance |
Number of Templates | 10,000+ |
Google Forms 1 is one of the all-time easiest ways to build an online form, especially if you’re already familiar with Google’s other apps.
Free Plan Restrictions | N/A |
What You Get When You Upgrade | All features are included for free |
Number of Templates | 17 |
Zoho Forms is part of the Zoho family of apps, which includes CRM (customer relationship management), email, accounting, document editing, and more. It even has its own project management software (see our expert Zoho Projects review for more details).
The platform has been designed to integrate well with third-party apps, like Zapier, which means you can automatically send your form entries to a custom database, even on the free plan 1 .
Free Plan Restrictions | 3 forms 500 submissions/month 200MB file storage |
What You Get When You Upgrade | Unlimited forms and up to 150,000 form submissions per month |
Number of Templates | 10+ |
Although Sendinblue is much more than a form builder – it’s a fully-featured online marketing platform that covers email marketing, advertising, and landing pages – it actually has a really great (free!) form builder included in its features 1 .
Create subscription/signup forms, unsubscription forms, and forms that allow your customers to update their profile. As part of the free plan, you can collect an unlimited number of contacts, and you’re not limited in the number of forms you can create, either. Unfortunately, there are no templates, but you can customize the background, change fonts, add images, and adjust the size of your form.
Standout Features
Free Plan Restrictions | None for the form builder |
What You Get When You Upgrade | Upgrading to the Premium plan allows you to create landing pages with forms, and it removes limits on the number of emails you can send in a day |
Number of Templates | 0 |
As a featured Wix partner, Wufoo is a great choice. Although the interface looks super simple, its features are anything but basic. You can choose from a huge range of templates and easily customize your form’s fields.
The downside with Wufoo form builder’s free plan 1 is that the limits are pretty tight. For instance, you can’t have more than ten fields on a form, and each option in a multiple choice section counts as a field, so they can add up quick.
Free Plan Restrictions | 5 forms 10 form fields per form 100 submissions/month |
What You Get When You Upgrade | Access to features like DocuSign and file upload |
Number of Templates | 400+ |
Designing forms that look amazing is a breeze with Typeform . There are more than 80 pre-designed, modern and stylish templates that you can choose from. The form builder integrates with Google Analytics so you can easily analyze your data, plus you can connect to Zapier.
Free Plan Restrictions | 10 questions per Typeform form 100 responses/month |
What You Get When You Upgrade | Unlimited responses and questions |
Number of Templates | 80+ |
With 123FormBuilder, you get 200 templates to choose from 1 , plus an impressive array of tools – including two-step verification, multiple fields on a row, and support for e-signatures. It integrates really well with platforms like Wix and WordPress so you can easily add forms to your website. Plus, you get full access to the HTML code.
Free Plan Restrictions | 5 forms 10 form fields 100 submissions/month |
What You Get When You Upgrade | Custom email templates, HTML blocks on your forms, and SSL encryption |
Number of Templates | 200+ |
If you’re looking for a more secure solution for your online forms – for example, if you’re collecting healthcare responses – then Formsite is for you. Not only do you get text encryption, but you can also produce password-protected reports. Unfortunately, you only get a daily summary email (rather than email notifications) on the free plan 1 .
Formsite offers a large number of form field options for free, plus you can upload files. The biggest downside? You only get ten results per form with the free plan.
Free Plan Restrictions | 5 forms 100 submissions/month 50MB space |
What You Get When You Upgrade | Payment integration and additional results |
Number of Templates | 30+ |
Time to upgrade to a paid form builder? Maybe you need more monthly form submissions than what the free form builders offer. If you’re running a business, being limited to 100 form submissions (or less) per month doesn’t offer much room for growing your customer base.
Market research and lead generation are two of the most important things for businesses. The best form builders in the paid category are the ones that give you the tools you need to increase conversions and grow your business.
A flexible form builder designed especially for WordPress, Ninja Forms 1 can be downloaded and installed for free. But if you want to use it for business, you’ll need to either subscribe to a yearly plan or purchase some add-ons.
Free Trial? | 14-day money-back guarantee on add-ons, plus you can download the plugin to try for free |
Number of Templates | 12+ |
Best For | Small businesses |
With a stack of advanced tools for all types of businesses, Formstack is particularly useful if you have strict data rules you need to adhere to. Other features include A/B testing, accepting payments directly through the form, and custom branding. The interface is clean and easy to use, with a drag-and-drop-style builder that makes customizing your form a breeze.
While Formstack doesn’t offer a free plan, you can sign up for a 14-day free trial 1 .
Free Trial? | 14 days, no credit card required |
Number of Templates | 40+ |
Best For | Healthcare or other regulated businesses |
If you’re looking for a feature-packed builder that’s designed to help you create great looking forms, Paperform 1 is a solid choice. The interface makes it incredibly easy, and can be used for everything from contact forms to “landing forms” – where landing pages meet online forms, like in the screenshot below:
Free Trial? | 14-days, no credit card required |
Number of Templates | 120+ |
Best For | Marketing, onboarding, and recruitment |
Free form builders impose limitations, including the cap on the number of submissions you can receive or forms you can generate. However, you might find it pleasantly surprising that these constraints notwithstanding, you can access numerous features without incurring any charges.
If you’re running a business and are in the market for a paid online form maker, then you’re much less likely to face restrictions. That said, not all paid plans are unlimited, so it’s worth checking exactly what you’re getting before you sign up. Extra charges, when you go over the limits, can quickly add up!
Online forms are really easy to create and have come a long way in terms of design in just a few years. With new ways of collecting data popping up every day, there’s no excuse for having a boring, basic form on your website.
Our RecommendationsFree Online Form Builder | Integrations | What You Get When You Upgrade | Standout Feature |
JotForm 1 | Payment gateways, Adobe Doc Cloud, eSign, Google Docs | More form submissions and payment options | Choose from more than 10,000 free templates |
Google Forms 1 | Google Sheets, 30+ add ons | N/A | 100% free |
Zoho Forms 1 | All Zoho family apps, G Suite, Salesforce, Zapier | Unlimited forms and thousands of monthly submissions | Receive up to 500 form submissions each month |
Sendinblue 1 | Only with CRM platforms such as HubSpot, GetResponse, and ActiveCampaign | Landing page builder, Facebook ads, chat, retargeting, removal of branding and daily sending limits | Use the attributes tag feature to create unlimited form field types to use Sendinblue for more than just signup forms |
Wufoo 1 | Only on paid plans | More form submissions and up to 13 advanced features | Form building is faster when you use predefined choices |
Typeform | Google Analytics, 500+ apps via Zapier | Unlimited questions and submissions | User-focused, one-question-at-a-time, modern form style |
123FormBuilder 1 | Wix, WordPress, e-Signatures | HTML blocks, more submissions, SSL encryption | Ensure form submissions aren’t missed with the multiple notification system |
Formsite 1 | Only on paid plans | More submissions, workflow features, security compliance | Prioritize security with text field encryption |
Paid Online Form Builder | Integrations | Pricing | Standout Feature |
Ninja Forms 1 | Dependent on plan (Zapier included on higher tier plans) | $ – $$ | Pick and choose your add-ons rather than being tied into a yearly plan |
Formstack 1 | Payments, direct integrations with Google Sheets and Analytics, and more | $ – $$ | Get lots of step-by-step guides to easily build your forms without sacrificing on advanced features like HIPAA compliance |
Paperform 1 | Payments, Zapier, direct integrations with Google Sheets, and more | $ – $$ | Build forms that double as landing pages without having to know a single line of code |
We rank vendors based on rigorous testing and research, but also take into account your feedback and our commercial agreements with providers. This page contains affiliate links. Advertising Disclosure
Ari is passionate about web hosting and design and has been building websites with WordPress for over ten years. When he’s not testing web hosts, you’re likely to find him trying (in vain) to train his three beagles (who are better at training him than he is them!)